Investors Buy Large Volume of Bath & Body Works Put Options (NYSE:BBWI)

Bath & Body Works, Inc. (NYSE:BBWI) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Stock investors bought 17,302 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 198% compared to the average daily volume of 5,811 put options.

Institutional Trading of Bath & Body Works

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BBWI. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new position in Bath & Body Works during the 3rd quarter valued at about $8,129,000. Forest Avenue Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in Bath & Body Works by 19.1% in the third quarter. Forest Avenue Capital Management LP now owns 1,467,763 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,851,000 after purchasing an additional 235,173 shares during the last quarter. Anthracite Investment Company Inc. bought a new stake in Bath & Body Works in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,921,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Bath & Body Works by 328.7% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,069,941 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,153,000 after buying an additional 820,379 shares during the last quarter. Finally, iA Global Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Bath & Body Works by 1,078.2% during the 3rd quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 49,331 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,575,000 after buying an additional 45,144 shares during the period. 95.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bath & Body Works Stock Up 0.3 %

Bath & Body Works stock opened at $36.78 on Friday. Bath & Body Works has a twelve month low of $26.20 and a twelve month high of $52.99. The company has a market capitalization of $7.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.97, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.82. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $36.30 and its 200 day moving average is $33.68.

Bath & Body Works (NYSE:BBWI) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 25th. The company reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.58 billion. Bath & Body Works had a negative return on equity of 44.03% and a net margin of 12.43%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.48 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Bath & Body Works will post 3.26 EPS for the current year.

Bath & Body Works Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.18%. Bath & Body Works’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.51%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on BBWI shares. Barclays increased their price objective on Bath & Body Works from $28.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Bath & Body Works from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Bath & Body Works from $51.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $42.00 target price on shares of Bath & Body Works in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Bath & Body Works from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $42.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.06.

Bath & Body Works Company Profile

Bath & Body Works, Inc operates a specialty retailer of home fragrance, body care, and soaps and sanitizer products. It sells its products under the Bath & Body Works, White Barn, and other brand names through retail stores and e-commerce sites located in the United States and Canada, as well as through international stores operated by partners under franchise, license, and wholesale arrangements.